Advertisement
Published: April 3rd 2017
Edit Blog Post
It's holidays time, this time for Tiffany as she has three full weeks to enjoy away from boarding school. On the program, as you can guess some fun diving at home....but not only!
South Africa has so much to offer that we won't get bored visiting every corner of it too soon! Many people are asking me when I tell them we moved to South Africa if we are living in Joburg or Cape Town. Trust me, Cape Town is an amazing place, but winter here are way too cold and wet for me...and prices way too high to simply enjoy it properly. Shall I also add as a diver, water is way to cold to have fun diving here few times a week!
This is the second visit for Tiffany, but a first for Tanya, so few places to visit are not new on the list. We stay four nights at the Westin....nice spacious suite and a pretty amazing lounge for breakfast with just a wonderful view from the 19th floor of the Westin. Out of the 5 days here, four were sunny one...and one was cloudy with some light rain, way better for
anything to visit inside!
First upgrade at the airport with a nice little Renault, all this for just 13 euros per day inclusive of insurance...not bad! On the menu, we visit, we eat and we even drunk some wine! You can imagine!
We had a last lunch at the V&A Waterfront with some shopping. Time to get back to the airport...next stop, coming soon...
On our first morning, it was diving time in Simon's Town, nearly an hour south of Cape Town. Tiffany did it two years ago. The water was 13 degrees....nice visibility and lots of pyjama sharks, shy sharks and nudibranches. This dive is famous for being a kelp dive with the Seven gills sharks, also known as the cow sharks. Sadly for us, no sighting of a Seven Gills two years ago...so we had to come back. Job down, out of 46 minutes diving a water this time at 15 degrees, with a visibility of 5 to 7 meters, we had Seven Gills all the time on us. If you don't move, they will come so close that you have to move not to touch them. These sharks
are special, first because they are pretty rare....but also because the don't have a dorsal fin and are known as one of the most ancient animal still rooming earth, or rather the oceans!
Yes, that was a dive. Next one is the fun dive with the seals. We've done it already. But if you do this one, you are back at the dive center after 1pm, and we had a lot more planned ahead to skip that dive. First, the automatic little stop to spot the penguin colony south of Simon's Town. Second time, still an amazing experience. We than spent some cool time in the Cape of Good Hope National Park, this time we did not have to run and could walk all the way up and down to the Cape Point lighthouse.
One of the best road trip in the world is definitively the Chapman's Peak road. It takes just short of an hour with all the stop. This road is simply amazing....built right in the cliffs over the Ocean. Last visit we did it on the run and it was raining, so no stop to enjoy the views...this was something else
today! That's it, full day, back for few bubbles at the lounge and in bed early!
Next morning, it's back to Table Mountain. Last time with the kids, the top of it was in clouds so we never took the cable car. This morning, it is simply a beautiful morning. We made it to the queue before the crowds. Early morning has still the advantage of offering epic views with the early morning clouds covering part of the scenery, magic!
It's a beautiful day out there, let's do some wine! First stop, just before 11am, Vergelegen for some nice wine. Imagine few months ago, living in Thailand, which prices we were paying for just a basic bottle in Bangkok. Well, I mainly imported what we were drinking. Today Vergelegen is our daily red Cabernet Sauvignon/Merlot. Isn't it bad to get use to such good quality at so low prices? They also produce a nice bubbly, only 800 bottles per year, so this is the place to put your hands on one of them! I also brought back with use an Auction Reserve Sauvignon Blanc 07', something very special, and they have less than 400
bottles of this one left!
We left Vergelegen just after twelve. Time for a nice lunch, let's drive the 45 minutes to Delaire Graff. A lunch should be booked here at least 6 months in advance. This is the last "it" place in the wine region. Well, we don't have a booking and I will arrive at 1pm...why not!
You've seen the pictures...we had a table 45 minutes later. No we didn't wait dry there, but did a decent testing. Delaire Graff is own by the owner of the biggest South African high-end jewelry brand. It shows everywhere. From immaculate grounds, stunning modern art all over the place, and a sense for marketing that can only impress.
The winery is pretty young. The trick is therefore to stay away for the moment from their signature reds. Well, they try to charge close to 300usd for their last vintage of they top red blend. No thanks! The have a fresh and nice bubbly...but just double the price what it should be. We have already tried at home their rose, pretty nice affair! What impressed me is their Sauvignon Blanc. They don't produce
one of them, but two! One is a french Bordeaux style white, the other is your typical New Zealand style Sauvignon Blanc. Both are done pretty well. I have to admit, this is purely commercial, but it's just a brillant move!
As you can guess, we had a nice lunch, actually a very nice one! Sadly, the day is not over, we have a visit and testing at Van Ryn's, a distillery 20 minutes away. They have an award winning 12 years old Brandy. Yes, beside the name, it's a Cognac...but they do it amazing well as a fraction of the price! The guide was ok...she could at least answer most of my questions pretty accurately...but it went fun when we entered the conversation with the Aussies and the Americans about comparing it to French Cognac. Put it simply, I chose South African straight on, specially if we have to compare the prices. I did taste a 10, 12, 15 and twenty years old brandy...nice!
This is it...wine region is over for this time. I can't put more than 3-4 tasting in a day plus a nice lunch. So no problem for us to
keep coming in the region, we still have a lot to discover! Dinner was at the top restaurant of the Westin. May not have been as nice as the lunch at Delair Graff, but what a foodie day!
Next morning, we knew the weather forecast. It would be cloudy, some light rain, and the sun would come back the next day. So we spent time at the V&A Waterfront. Sadly, the new modern art museum at Silo is not opened yet...one more reason to come back. It was also work, relax and swimming pool time before finishing the day with nice mussels at Den Aker!
Next morning, we are walking all the way to Bo Kaap, the colorful little neighborhood just 15 minutes walk from the hotel. Ten years ago it would have been a serious no-no to walk the streets of Cape Town CBD. Things have changed, and in a good way. The city is emerging in every ways, and safety has improved tremendously all over the place, which is a great welcome!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.095s; Tpl: 0.017s; cc: 13; qc: 27; dbt: 0.0296s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Rene Young
non-member comment
Love Cape Town
I visited Cape Town last August and it was not enough time! Planning to head back with the family. Thank you for the inspiration and information. Have put Delaire Graff onto the list.